Dive summary:
- While one would think that more automation in ad buying would make publishers hiring easier, it has now created positions that require both traditional sales talents and a deep understanding of analytics, yield management and ad-serving technology.
- Employees with both sides of the talent coin are a hot commodity and rare meaning all publishers are competing with high-paying powerhouses like Google and Facebook.
- Retraining existing sales and ad ops teams is a tempting solution, but Nick Blunden, global digital publisher of The Economist warns against it saying that then "You have people you can't retrain."
From the article:
"For example, Business Insider is looking to expand its programmatic team. The company recently lost its svp of business and audience development, Bridget Williams, who left to become president of Abrams Media. Business Insider is trying to hire a director that has a strong ad ops background, along with managerial experience. That makes this a hybrid role. It’s part executional, part strategic.
And this is where publishers find the going tough. There are simply too few of those people at the moment."